Angling Trust Team England Fly Fishing

The 2016 FIPS-Mouche European Fly Fishing Championship took place from the 3rd-9th October in the Slupsk area of Central Pomerania, Poland, on the River Lupawa and Swan Pond.

Programme: 

3rd Oct – Opening Ceremony and Captains’ Meeting

4th Oct – Official Practice Sessions 1 & 2

5th Oct – Competition Sessions 1 & 2

6th Oct – Competition Session 3

7th Sept – Competition Sessions 4 & 5

8th Sept – Award & Closing Ceremony & Farewell Dinner 

You will find more information at the official website here, and on their Facebook page here.

Team England FF was represented by Ben Bangham, Andrew Croucher, Mike Dixon, Scott Nellins, Andy Cliffe and Martin Dixon (manager).

Opening Ceremony

First Day

Session 1: England scored a 6th place in Sector 1 on the river (Scott Nellins), along with a 10th, 12th, and 14th place, plus a 6th place on the lake sector (Andy Cliffe), which put them in 9th place, behind Scotland in 8th and Ireland 5th. Poland were leading with 13 placing points, three ahead of Finland Men, with the Czech Republic 3rd with 26 points sess1team

Session 2: Ben Bangham came 8th on the lake, but on the river sectors England scored three 10th places and a 15th, dropping to 11th overall. After a good session the Czech Republic drew level with Poland on placing points with 37 each and are currently 2nd, with 68960 fish points, with Poland 1st on 80600 fish points. Finland Men are 3rd with 50 placing points, and Spain 4th with 62 sess2teamcumul Piotr Zieleniak (Poland) is leading individually, ahead of Ruben Santos Becerro (Spain) – both with two first places – with Lukas Jahn (Czech) third, with a 2nd and a 1st. Michael Drinan of Ireland is currently 9th sess2indivcumul

Second Day

Session 3: A 1st place by Scott Nellins, plus a 3rd by Ben Bangham, both on the river sectors, helped England get back to 6th place overall on 127 placing points, just behind Ireland on 121. The Czech Republic are currently in 1st place, on 55 points, five ahead of Poland in 2nd and Finland Men 3rd with 86 points, three ahead of Spain sess3teamcumul Individually, another 1st place saw Piotr Zieleniak (Poland) keep his lead, one point ahead of Lukas Jahn (Czech) and Ruben Santos Becerro (Spain), both on 4 placing points sess3indivcumul

Third Day

Session 4: England’s highest placed team member in this session was Ben Bangham with an 8th on one of the river sectors, with a 9th to Scott Nellins, and 11th to Andy Cliffe (also on the river), and an 11th to Mike Dixon on the lake. England slipped to 10th place overall, with Ireland 7th. Poland overtook the Czech Republic to gain 1st place, 73 points to 77, with Spain 3rd with 119 points sess4teamcumul Individually, Piotr Zieleniak (Poland) scored yet another 1st place to stay in the lead with 4 points, ahead of Lukas Jahn (Czech) on 6 points (two 1sts and and two 2nds), with Ruben Santos Becerro (Spain) on 7 points with two 1sts, a 2nd, and a 3rd sess4indivcumul

Session 5: England did better in the final session with Scott Nellins coming 3rd on the lake, and 8th places to Andy Croucher and Ban Bangham on the river sectors. They finished in 8th place with 219 points, just behind Ireland on 205 points. Poland increased their lead to become the 2016 European Champions with 81 total placing points, with the Czech Republic 2nd with 105 points, and Spain 3rd with 143 points, Finland Men 4th and France 5th sess5teamcumul Individually, Piotr Zieleniak (Poland) managed a clean sweep of 1st places, scoring just 5 placing points to become the 2016 Individual European Champion. Lukas Jahn (Czech) was 2nd with 8 points, and Piotr Armatys (Poland) 3rd with 12 points. Michael Drinan of Ireland scored a 3rd in his final session to finish 6th overall. England’s top performer was Scott Nellins at 21st, with Ben Bangham 33rd sess5indivcumul

Country: WALES

Venue: Llandegfedd Reservoir

Dates: 20th to 24th September (incl)

Match date: 23rd September

Accommodation: Holiday Inn, Newport

Result:

1. Scotland   35 fish  59lbs 1.50ozs
2. Ireland   37 fish  57lbs 15.00ozs
3. England  30 fish 47lbs 4.00ozs
4. Wales   26 fish 38lbs 13.00ozs

Best Basket: Andrew Duncan (Ireland) 7 fish 12lbs 9.500ozs

Heaviest Trout: Peter Aucterlonie (Scotland) 2lbs 1.500ozs

Top English Rod: Phil Thompson 7 fish 12lbs 5.500ozs

AT TEFF was represented by: Stephen Peart (manager), John Hardy (captain), Craig  Barr, Dale Burgess, Ian Colclough, Peter Elliott, Harry Fox, Tom Gott, Gary Haskins, Mark Miles, John Pearn, Bill Rankin, Mark Rooney, Philip Thompson & Graham Willis.

Congratulations to Scotland on a tight victory.

Full Results: iffa2016autumn

The 36th 2016 FIPS-Mouche World Fly Fishing Championship was held on the 10th-18th September in Vail, Colorado, USA, on the Eagle, Colorado and Blue Rivers and Sylvan Lake.

Programme: 

11th Sept – Captains’ Meeting, Parade of Team, Opening Ceremony and Welcome Dinner

12th Sept – Official Practice Sessions 1 & 2

13th Sept – Official Practice Sessions 3 & 4

14th Sept – Competition Sessions 1 & 2

15th Sept – Competition Session 3 & Free Session 4

16th Sept – Competition Sessions 5 & 6

17th Sept – Conservation Symposium, Medal Presentation, Closing Ceremony & Awards Banquet

You will find more information at the official website here, and on their Facebook page here.

John Horsey also covered this event on his Facebook page here, as did FIPS-Mouche here.

Team England FF was represented by Howard Croston, Phil Dixon, John Horsey, Simon Robinson, Andrew Scott and Paul Page (manager). 

Session 1: England scored two 13th places (Phil Dixon and John Horsey – on the lake), a 14th (Andrew Scott), and a 15th place (Howard Croston), finishing in 17th place out of 22 teams. France took an early lead, ahead of Slovakia, with Spain 3rd and the Czech Republic in 4th place. session-1-teamss 

Session 2: A better performance saw England move up to 14th place, with a 5th place for Howard Croston and 6th places for Simon Robinson and John Horsey. Although Team USA moved into 2nd place, France extended their lead at 46 points to 68, with Spain and Slovakia both on 72 in 3rd and 4th place, and the Czechs 5th with 73.  session-2-teamss-cumm Individually, Jon Stagg of Australia was in the lead with 3 points, one ahead of France’s Sebastien Delcor and Pat Weiss of the USA.

Session 3: Despite another 6th place to Simon Robinson, England slipped  to 15th place in this session. Team USA continued to do well, closing the gap between them and the French (still in 1st place) to just one point, 85 to 86. Spain also had a good session, remaining at 3rd place with 93 points. session3-teams-cum With a 1st and two 3rds, Sebastien Delcor of France is currently in 1st place, one point ahead of Lance Egan (USA), with Julien Daguillanes (France) 3rd, and Pat Weiss (USA) 4th, both with 9 points. session3-indivs-cum

[Session 4 is a free session. The next competition session, Session 5, begins at 9.00am (local time) on Friday] 

Session 5: Phil Dixon got a 4th in his section, and Howard Croston an 8th, but England ended this session in 16th place. Spain continued to improve, moving up to 1st place overall with 106 points, ahead of France with 120 and the USA with 123 points. session5-teams-cum A 2nd place moved Julien Daguillanes of France into the Individual lead with 11 points, one ahead of Lance Egan (USA) on 12, with Jordi Cortina (Spain) 3rd with 13 points. session5-indivs-cum

Session 6: Andrew Scott came 4th in his section in the final session, with Phil Dixon getting a 6th place and Simon Robinson a 7th on the lake, to see England finish the championship in 15th place. Spain extended their lead to end up the World Champions with 133 points, with France 2nd with 150 points, and the USA 3rd with 162 points. session6-teams-cum  Individually, another 2nd place saw Julien Daguillanes become World Champion (with a 7th, two 1sts and two 2nds) on 13 points, with Jordi Cortana (Spain) 2nd with 14, and Lance Egan (USA) 3rd with 18 points. session6-indivs-cum

Out & About Fly Fishing Champs – Practice Sessions

Google Earth Virtual Tour

The America Cup, Inc. brings The World Fly Fishing Championships to USA

The Angling Trust reports: The 36th World Fly Fishing Championships were held in Colorado, USA from 11th to 18th September 2016. Set in the stunning Rocky Mountains, the Eagle, Colorado and Blue Rivers provided the river sectors while alpine mountain lake of Sylvan State Park gave anglers the opportunity to fish Loch Style. 28 nations from around the world descended upon the Rocky’s with 133 individuals competed in the competition over 6 sessions.

Team England based themselves at Beaver Creek which had good access to the competition and practice venues. This gave England the opportunity to cover the majority practice and competitions venues however, there was no access  to Sylvan Lake but England were able to gain access to two other lakes nearby that contained wild brook trout and stocked rainbows.

England’s first session saw the team tackle the predominantly skinny water and small river beats, along with the gin clear water of Sylvan Lake. The team’s efforts produced less fish than that was expected from the practice days performances and England finished 16th by the end of the first session.

The second session saw a considerable improvement with Howard Croston finishing in fifth place while John Horsley and Simon Robinson ended up 6th in their respective sectors. Sylvan Lake continued to fox the team, however four of the other nations appeared to have identified the correct approach and England finished 8th in the session giving an overall place of 14th after two sessions.

The third session saw England head back to the river beats and the enigma of Sylvan Lakes.  Simon Robinson delivered a 6th place on the Eagle river. England ended the session in 14th place which saw them drop to 15th overall.

The fourth fishing session brought a new morning and renewed optimism that some good pegs would be drawn. Phil Dixon produced a 4th on the upper Eagle and the largest fish of the Championship 88cm Rainbow. The Lake continued to flummox the team and the other river sectors proved challenging. England ended the fourth session in 10th place and dropped further in the overall placings to overall to 16th.

The fifth and final session proved much the same for England but two bright spots gave were Andrew Scott’s 4th place along with Phil Dixon a 6th place during the session. The team’s efforts resulted in England finishing the session in 10th finishing and a final position of 14th overall.

Paul Page, Team England’s World Team Manager stated ”The team produced top 3 numbers of fish when practicing on the Blue, Colorado and Eagle rivers. With no boat fishing opportunities on gin clear Alpine Lakes Sylvan Lake was always going to be an open book to the team. The river beats, 24 per sector, varied tremendously in their fishing quality, mainly due to their shortness and low water levels. This unfortunately meant that the Championship was very peggy, however the top teams did perform well above average on the beats they were drawn”. Many thanks go out to all those who enter our regional qualifiers where a portion of their entry fee goes to support our International, European and World teams, along with our major fund raiser (John Ball) without who’s efforts Individual participation would be very expensive.”

The 2016 Loch-style National Final was fished at Chew Valley Lake on 10th & 11th September.

Top 10 places + Qualifiers for 2017 Home International Loch-style Teams: 

1. Mike Dixon (14 pts) – 2016 National Loch-style Champion 
2. Mark Miles (19 pts)
3. Tom Gott (26 pts)
4. Mark Haycock (27 pts)
5. Nikki Long (34 pts)
6. Mark Rooney (35 pts)
7. Phil Shaw-Browne (35 pts)
8. Thomas Bird (38 pts)
9. Iain Barr (38 pts)
10. Antony Donnelly (42 pts)

Other qualifiers: John Braithwaite, David Bromley, Roger Truscott, Ed Foster, Andy Cottam, Dave Summers, Mark Tremain-Coker, Tony Fox, Alex Johnstone, Steve Smalley, Mark Rose, Ed Smith, Tom Speake, Nick Dunn, Ryan Feber, Craig Barr, Andy Taylor & Matt Kingdom.

Full Results here

Congratulations to all the qualifiers for doing well over what was a tough two days!

Loch-style Co-ordinator Ian Colclough reports: This final was again held over two days with 102 anglers from all parts of England competing. Anglers had reached this stage having qualified through various heats around the country throughout the year.

Practice days were extremely challenging with bright sun and strong winds making the fishing difficult. Day One of the Final saw a change to overcast skies and near calm conditions. However this did not make the fishing any easier and many experienced anglers struggled to catch. Day Two was relatively calm but the sun reappeared and the fishing became even more difficult. Many large trout also came to the scales and some anglers were fortunate to latch in to one or two of these. The results were tight and anglers who prospered on Day One found that they slipped out of the top slots on Day Two, while others crept up to take an England cap.

Many methods were employed, from dry fly fishing to pulling lures and nymphs. 

The 28 top anglers will form the two England Teams for next year, and will fish at either Chew in the Spring or Menteith, Scotland in the Autumn.

Press Release: press-release

The Angling Trust reports: Mike Dixon has been crowned this year’s Angling Trust Team England Fly Fishing National Loch-Style champion after a challenging two-day final held at Chew Valley Lake.

The 28 top anglers will form the two Angling Trust Team England Fly Fishing teams for next year and will fish at either Chew in the spring or Menteith, Scotland, in the autumn.

Mont-Tremblant, Quebec, Canada: 28th August-1st September 

15 teams are competing in this non-AT TEFF event, including South Africa (Women & Men), England (Women & Men), Australia (Gold & Green), Canada (White & Red), Scotland (Women & Men), the Isle of Man, Northern Ireland, Malta, New Zealand, and Wales.

The event consists of 5 sessions over two and a half days on three lakes and two river sectors. The three lake sectors are Lac Barrière, Lac Renversi and Lac des Îles. The river sessions are on the Rivière du Diable.

England is represented by:

Women – Sheena Goode (Manager), Andrea Smith & Lynda Steele.

Men – David Grove (Captain/Manager), Stephen Ebdon, Andrew Gooding, Bernie Maher, John Tyzack & Stuart Wardle.

After the first session, Australia Gold were leading, ahead of Canada Red, with England Men in third place. Dave Grove won his session, with Stuart Wardle and Bernie Maher both getting 3rd places.

After some good performances by the Canadian teams in the second session, Canada Red moved into the lead with 37 points, with Canada White second on 51, and New Zealand third on 56 points. England Men dropped to 6th place. Canadians made up the top six individual places, with Dave Grove 8th.

In the third session Canada White moved into first place, with 71 points, with Australia Gold second on 78, and Canada Gold third on 79 points. England Gold remained at 6th with 92 points. Keefer Pitfield of Canada White was the top individual with 5 points, while Dave Grove moved up to second with 6 points, one point ahead of Michael Nolan of Australia Gold. Bernie Maher was 14th.

Canada White continued to do well in the fourth and final sessions, winning the team championship with 112 points, well ahead of Scotland Men who finished 2nd with 154 points, four ahead of Australia Gold in third place. England Men finished in 6th place. Individually, Canadian anglers took the top four places, with Dave Grove finishing in 7th place. Kenneth Ferguson and Campbell Baird from Northern Ireland were 5th and 6th, while Robert Irvine of Scotland Men finished 10th.

You can find out more about this event here, and on their Facebook page here

This was fished on Llangollen/Maelor AA water of the River Dee, Llangollen.

1st. Andrew Scott – Total Fish 40 – Total Fish Points 1913 – Total Placing Points 4

(2016 National Rivers Champion) 

2016 National Rivers Champion: Andrew Scott

2nd. Phil Dixon – Total Fish 29 – Total Fish Points 1416 – Total Placing Points 6

3rd. Steve Cullen – Total Fish 18 – Total Fish Points 901 – Total Placing Points 7

4th. Andy Ford – Total Fish 12 – Total Fish Points 643 – Total Placing Points 9

5th. Fred Bainbridge – Total Fish 26 – Total Fish Points 1267 – Total Placing Points 10

6th. Simon Robinson – Total Fish 25 – Total Fish Points 1193 – Total Placing Points 10

(Reserve) 

2nd: Phil Dixon 

3rd: Steve Cullen 

Full Results: RIVERS FINAL 2016

Report by Martin Dixon, Organiser:

With the river well rested and settled water conditions at last! I was confident that the Dee would fish well, and so it proved.

The Monday was dry and still, and from the off anglers were catching on a variety of methods. Beat A, above Llangollen, was expected to produce the most fish, and though grayling, browns and the odd sea trout were caught consistently, it was Beat B around the Golf Course which produced the most fish, with Andrew Scott taking two first placings in the afternoon. 

Again large numbers of fish were caught on the Tuesday. Over the competition over 400 fish of 20cms+ were caught, measured and safely returned. By far the greatest numbers came off Beat D, the Country Park. In the morning Andrew Scott had another two firsts, so that Phil Dixon in the afternoon knew that his excellent, consistent performance could only be good enough for second place. Beat C, the dreaded Ddol Isaf was inconsistent, though large numbers were caught in the wood where Steve Cullen and Andy Ford enjoyed excellent returns. 

4th: Andy Ford

Thanks to the Hand Hotel who always look after anglers very well, especially in our qualifiers and this final. Many thanks to the Llangollen/Maelor club for the use of their excellent waters.  

5th: Fred Bainbridge 

Reserve: Simon Robinson

2016 Rivers National: Llangollen Maelor AA water, R.Dee – 1st-2nd August 2016

The Rivers National Final will return to the Dee in 2016. The event will be based at the Hand Hotel and fished on Monday 1st and Tuesday 2nd August.

Final Rivers Qualifier Results & Allocations: 2015-2016 Rivers Qualifiers Entries Results (j)

NB: There were seven cases of Pre-Qualifying, where entrants who had already qualified, finished in a qualifying position a second or third time. When this happened, their qualifying place was given to the next highest finishing entrant in that Qualifier. These were: 1. Cameron Craigs: Having already qualified on the 24th Oct 2015, his reserve place on the 8th Nov 2015 went to Andrew Green, and his qualifying place on the 6th Feb 2016 went to Martin Burgess – 2. Martin Dixon: Having already qualified on the 24th Jan 2016, his qualifying place on the 3rd April 2016 went to Mark Withyman – 3. Phil Dixon: Having already qualified on the 24th Jan 2016, his qualifying place on the 13th Mar 2016 went to Tom Speak – 4. Andy Cliffe: Having already qualified on the 13th Mar 2016, his qualifying place on the 3rd April 2016 went to Chris Richardson – 5. Tom Gott: Having already qualified on the 13th Mar 2016, his qualifying place on the 3rd April 2016 went to Ian Greenwood – 6. Chris Richardson: Having qualified on the 3rd April 2016, his reserve place on the 13th Mar 2016 went to Carl Nixon – 7. Ian Greenwood: Having already qualified on the 3rd April 2016, his qualifying place on the 24th April 2016 went to Stan Moore.    

Finalists Pack – for all Rivers National Final Qualifiers: 

AT TEFF River Rules ATTEFFRIVERULES 2016

Llangollen/Maelor AA Map Maelor Angling WHOLE STRETCH

Rivers National Beat Rotation NATFINBEATROTATION2016

Rivers National Event Timetable NATFINEVENTTIMETABLE2016

Rivers National Risk Assessment NATFINRISKASSESSMENT2016

Organiser – Martin Dixon

2016 Rivers National: Llangollen Maelor AA water, R.Dee – 1st-2nd August 2016

Some dates have already been arranged, others will be added in due course. Note that following a vote taken at the 2013 TEFF AGM, you can enter as many Rivers Qualifiers as you like, and are no longer restricted to just the one.

To clarify:

1. An individual will be allowed to enter and fish as many River Qualifiers as they wish, as long as they have recognised the unique cut-off date for each of the various River Qualifiers, and providing they have paid for each Qualifier they have entered, including the TEFF Entry Fee, the Federation Surcharge, and the Fishery Charge.

2. It is up to each entrant to decide and manage which Qualifier they enter. However, if they successfully qualify at more than one Qualifier, the earliest qualification will stand, and any subsequent qualifications will be awarded to the next in line at that particular Qualifier.

3. The number of entrants that fished each Federation Qualifier will be used to decide the number of places in the National Final awarded to each Federation Qualifier on a pro rata basis.

Final Allocations, Entries & Results Spreadsheet: 2015-2016 Rivers Qualifiers Entries Results (j)

October 2015

Sat 24th October – Southern FF – R.Test, Broadlands Estate – Organiser: Simon Lucas – Overall Results: 1. Howard Croston 2. Cameron Craigs 3. Adam Sinclair 4. Malcolm Hunt 5. Lewis Hendrie 6. Andy Ford – Results: Broadlands qualifier results 2015 – More details on Southern FF web page

November 2015

Sun 8th November – South East FF Federation – Lower Itchen fishery – (Official Practice: Sat 7th November) – Organisers: Tony Fox & Mike Heritage – Overall Results: 1. Harry Fox 2. Harry Green 3. Lee Bartlett 4. Tony Fox 5. Mike Heritage 6. Cameron Craigs – Results Letter: Rivers results letter 2015 – More details on South East Federation web page

January 2016

Sun 24th January (Reserve date: Sunday 31st January) – Severn Trent Federation – R. Dee, Llangollen/Maelor Angling waters – Overall Results: 1. Martin Dixon 2. Phil Dixon 3. Scott Nellins 4. Gilliaum Vermeulen 5. Steve Cullen 6. Chris Richardson – Overall Results – Qualifier 24.01.16 – More details on Severn Trent Federation web page

February 2016

Sat 6th February – R.Test, Wherwell – Organiser: Andrew Croucher – Overall Results: 1. Simon Robinson 2. Andy Croucher 3. Cameron Craigs 4. Martin Burgess 5. Trevor Hayman 6. Ben Bangham – Report & Full Results: AT TEFF River Qualifer Wherwell Report Feb 2016

March 2016

Sun 13th March – Severn Trent Federation – R. Dee, Llangollen/Maelor Angling waters. – Overall Results: 1. Tony Baldwin 2. Phil Dixon 3. Tom Speak 4. M Tyndall 5. Andy Cliffe 6. S Clarke 7. Tom Gott  – Full Results: Severn-Trent Fed – Dee qualifier results 13-3-16 – More details on Severn Trent Federation web page

April 2016

Sun 3rd April – Northern FF Federation – R. Dee, Maelor – Overall Results: 1. Martin Dixon 2. Andy Cliffe 3. Tom Gott 4. Mark Withyman 5. Chris Richardson 6. Ian Greenwood – Full results: 2016 Score Card (River Dee) Results Summary – More details on Northern FF Fed web page

Sun 24th April – Northern FF Federation – R. Ure, Wensley – Overall Results: 1. Fred Bainbridge 2. Jon Barnes 3. Andrew Scott 4. Ian Greenwood 5. Stan Moore 6. Mike Dixon – Full results: 2016 Score Card (River Ure) Results Summary 2016 Score Card (River Ure) Results Summary – More details on Northern FF Fed web page

Country: Scotland

Venue: River Don

Dates: 22nd to 25th June (incl)

Match Date: Friday 24th June

Results:

1. Scotland (48 fish) 2340 fish points 44 placing points
2. Wales (44 fish) 2132 fish points 51 placing points
3. England (38 fish) 1944 fish points 52 placing points
4. Ireland (26 fish) 1249 fish points 56 placing points

Accommodation: Thainstone House Hotel, Inverurie 

Congratulations to Scotland for a decisive victory.

AT Team England FF were represented by: Andrew Scott (captain), Andy Cliffe, Phil Dixon, Chris Richardson, Simon Robinson, Cameron Craigs (reserve), and Mike Tinnion (manager).

Full results: iffarivers2016

Country:IRELAND

Venue:Lough Lein

Dates:24th to 28th May (incl)

Match date:Friday 27th May

Accommodation:Randles Hotels, Killarney

Result:

1. England   18 fish  4.111kg
2. Wales   13 fish  3.302kg
3. Scotland  13 fish 2.788kg
4. Ireland   8 fish 1.780kg

Best Basket: Alan Steven (Scotland) 4 fish 0.907kg

Heaviest Trout: Marco Orsi (Wales) 0.430kg

(Image courtesy of John Horsey Fly Fishing Facebook http://www.facebook.com/JohnHorseyFlyFishing)

Top English Rod: John Horsey 3 fish 0.711kg

AT TEFF was represented by: Paul Angell (manager), Nick Dunn (captain), Charlie Abrahams, Tony Curtis, Ben Dobson, Ian Donaldson, Tony Donnelly, Bob Fitzpatrick, Brad Gifford, John Horsey, Carl Nixon, Richard Slater, Gilliaum Vermeulen, Paul Wild & Mark Withyman.

Congratulations to all AT TEFF team members for a convincing victory.

Full Results: iffa2016spring 

The Angling Trust reports: 4 Teams of 14 anglers representing England, Ireland, Scotland and Wales took part in the IFFA Spring Loch-Style International from 24th – 27th May 2016 at Lough Leane, Killarney, Ireland.

The Team members representing England were; Nick Dunn (Captain) Charlie Abrahams, Tony Curtis, Ben Dobson, Ian Donaldson, Tony Donnelly, Bob Fitzpatrick, Brad Gifford, John Horsey, Carl Nixon, Richard Slater, Gillaum Vermeulen, Paul Wild, Mark Withyman, Paul Angell (Manager).

In practice the conditions had varied from light winds to strong breezes, but match day saw the teams take to the water in bright sunshine with very little wind. The bulk of the fleet headed for Victoria Bay or Gaureen Bay, both of which had been found to hold good numbers of “keepers”.

Lough Leane is a wild brown trout fishery with a large head of small fish. To count as a keeper the fish had to measure 10” from the nose to the fork of the tail. Fishing to local association rules, the first 4 fish of takable size were to be killed, with any over 10” after this released after being measured and agreed with boatman and their boat partner. Released fish were to count as 250g in the final weigh in.

The team fished sink or midge tipped lines with nymphs and hoppers. In calm hot conditions, a heavy buzzer was fished on the point to take the flies down to where the fish were. It was hard work, needing high levels of concentration to react to the fast taking, small brown trout. Many undersized fish were landed and returned, but the tally of takeable fish rose slowly during the day. Conditions improved in the last hour of the match, with the heavy, oppressive air lifting as a breeze filled in, and some who had been struggling all day managed to hook and land those elusive 10”+ fish.

At the weigh in, all fish taken were checked to make sure they reached a minimum of 10”. No-one wanted any penalties for weighing in an undersized fish. England went to the scales first and recorded 18 takeable trout, with the best bag being 3 from multi-capped John Horsey.

Ireland, on their home water weighed in 8 fish, with both Scotland and Wales recording 13 fish. When the weights were announced, England took the gold by a clear margin, with Wales piping Scotland for second place on weight of fish, and Ireland in 4th.

Best bag of the day and winner of the Brown Bowl was Alan Steven of Scotland who weighed in 4 fish, and heaviest fish went to Marco Orsi of Wales with a brown Trout of 430g.

Paul Angell, Autumn Loch-Style Team Manager stated “It had been a great team performance, based on the sharing of knowledge and ideas to develop a strategy that produced a Gold medal in difficult conditions. He also thanked the organisers for putting on a good competition in beautiful surroundings, and the boatmen who helped the team practice prior to the match.

Many thanks go to all the team sponsors, with a particular thank you to Wychwood for supplying the team with their new Hybrid Jacket, and to Angling Trust for all their help and support. Also to all team members who helped raise funds towards the cost of the week.”